


It's Only Allergies! Swear!

by carefulren



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allergies, Cold, Gen, Sick Character, Sick Lance, Sickfic, i wrote myself a sickfic because i'm scared for America, so i'm sharing it with all of you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-30 00:01:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8511001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carefulren/pseuds/carefulren
Summary: Lance starts his week off with an innocent case of the sniffles that he believes to be allergies. Despite growing worse as the week progresses, he wants to believe that it's still allergies. It's not.





	

It started with what Lance had thought was an innocent case of the sniffles, which he instantly pegged to be allergies. They were in the early grips of Spring, and Lance usually succumbed to allergies around this time of year. Needless to say, he wasn’t put off by it, and he slipped a pack of tissues in his pocket before leaving for school. Because he was fine after all.

 

“Lance!” Hunk called out with a big wave.

 

Lance slipped on his signature grin as he approached his group of friends surrounding Keith’s car. His hand met Hunk’s outstretched one in a high five before he turned on his heel to lean against the hood of Keith’s car.

 

“Please tell me someone has their calculus homework finished so I can copy it,” Lance called out, earning disapproving stares from Shiro, Pidge, and Keith. Though, he didn’t really take Keith’s personally because he was used to it.

 

“How are you going to pass the tests if you keep copying someone’s homework every day?”

 

Lance met Keith’s narrowed gaze with an easy smile. “I know how to do it, Keith. I just don’t want to do it.” The scoff he was given as a reply was enough to know he won this discussion.

 

“You can see mine, but you owe me.” Hunk announced, and Lance shot him a toothy grin.

 

“Hunk, my ma-” Lance’s voice cut off abruptly as a tickle in his nose sparked. He turned his face away just in time to let out a quick sneeze into the crook of his arm.

 

“Are you alright, Lance?”

 

Lance waved off Shiro’s pressing concern as he dug around in his pocket for a tissue. “I’m good,” he said, rubbing gingerly at his nose with a tissue. “Allergies.”

 

“Guys, we need to get to class,” Pidge pointed out before starting towards the school building with Hunk and Keith in tow.

 

Lance pushed off of Keith’s car, adjusting the straps of his backpack before stopping to sneeze twice more within the crook of his arm.

 

“Lance-”

 

“Shiro,” Lance interrupted, holding a hand out to stop his friend from speaking. “I’m fine. It’s allergies. It happens every year around this time. It’s gonna take a lot more than allergies to knock me down.”

 

He slapped his hand against Shiro’s shoulder, shooting him a wide smile. After a few moments, the concern etched on Shiro’s face eased, and the two jogged to catch up to their friends.

 

*****

 

“Lance, if you sniff one more time, I’m going to personally rip your nose off,” Keith hissed between gritted teeth during the history class he and Lance share.

 

Lance leaned over until he was fairly close to Keith before sniffing loudly beside Keith’s face, causing Keith to shoot a piercing glare at him. He pressed his fist against his mouth to stifle a laugh as he turned his attention back to the teacher. He wasn’t initially trying to get on Keith’s nerves. He honestly wished his nose would stop leaking persistently, but it wasn’t letting up, so he figured he’d make the best of it and annoy Keith.

 

While it was certainly worth it to annoy Keith, Lance was silently thankful that he was a mere five minutes away until he would get to go home. School seemed to drag on today, and he had run out of tissues during third period, forcing him to use the rough paper towels from the bathroom. He hadn’t looked in a mirror since, but he could feel how raw his nose was, so he could only assume that he borderline looked like Rudolph.

 

His trailing thoughts were brought back to the present by his teacher dismissing class. He hopped out of his seat, shoving his books into his backpack before racing out of the room to his locker.

 

“Lance, your nose is all red.” Hunk noted as he leaned against the locker by Lance’s.

 

“That’s no way to greet your best friend after being separated for an hour,” Lance shot back while dumping most of his books into his locker.

 

“Are you okay,” Hunk asked with raised brows as Lance turned away to sneeze for what felt like the millionth time that day.

 

“A-Okay,” Lance replied through a sniff. He shouldered his backpack, patting Hunk on the shoulder before starting towards the school’s exit.

 

“Wait, Lance! Do you want a ride?”

 

Lance’s shoulders went stiff at Hunk’s voice. He knew that Hunk was only trying to be nice, but he couldn’t help the bitter feeling that stemmed from all of his friends having cars except him. He took a few deep breaths before glancing behind his shoulder at Hunk.

 

“I’m good, man. I’ll see you tomorrow!” And with that, Lance was out the doors and headed to his house.

 

*****

 

Lance had hoped that a good night’s rest accompanied with allergy medication would alleviate his symptoms, but he woke up the next morning with a scratchy throat and a stubborn cough to go along with his almost constant sneezing. He groaned as he sat up in bed but decided against staying home because he felt fine despite the persistent coughing and sneezing. He made a mental note to take more allergy medicine and grab more tissues before leaving for school.

 

The wind outside was bitter. While Spring was coming, it was still early, so the temperatures hadn’t really gone up any. Lance crossed his arms in an attempt to keep warm as he quickened his pace to school. It was only a ten-minute walk, but he was about to make it five if it meant getting out of the cold wind faster.

 

“Lance, I really wish you would let me drive you to school…”

 

Lance opened his mouth to brush of Shiro’s worrying tone as he approached the group by Keith’s car but was cut off by a brief coughing fit. He felt a warm hand press gently against his back and glanced up to see Hunk standing beside him with furrowed brows.

 

Once he caught his breath, he stood up straight and plastered on a toothy grin. “Before you ask, I’m fine. The allergy meds are just taking a bit to kick in.”

 

“That sounded like more than allergies, Lance.” Pidge said before stepping forward to press her small hand against Lance’s forehead. “But you don’t feel feverish…”

 

Lance slapped her hand away lightly with a sigh. “Because I’m fine,” he drew out. “I swear it’s allergies, geez. Can we just go to class already?” With that, Lance turned on his heel and started towards the building without glancing to see if his friends were following.

 

*****

 

“How long are you going to keep believing that this is just allergies?” Keith whispered just as Lance caught his breath from a coughing fit.

 

“Shut up, mullet,” Lance hissed back. A dull throb had started in his head during third period, and it was only growing worse with time. He wasn’t up for dealing with Keith at the moment.

 

Keith raised his eyebrows at the clipped reply. “You should go to the doctor or something. I can drive you.”

 

Lance sighed, standing from his desk as the teacher dismissed class. He shot Keith a weary look before shaking his head. “I’m not going to a doctor just to have them tell me I’m suffering from allergies, Keith. It would be a waste of time.”

 

Keith’s brows furrowed at Lance’s borderline defeated tone. “At least let one of us drive you home,” he said as he followed Lance out of the classroom.

 

“No,” Lance replied, dumping his books into his locker. He could hear Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk approaching, and he wasn’t up to dealing with all their mother hen bullshit. “I’m going to head out. See you guys later,” he called out loud enough for all his friends to hear before starting quickly towards the school’s exit.

 

Once home, Lance downed some medicine before lying down to take a nap.

 

*****

 

Lance woke to the sound of his alarm blaring. He sat up, instantly wrapping his arms around his body as the chill of the room hit him. He sat shivering for a few moments before finally leaning over to turn his alarm off. His head was pounding, he was freezing, and his throat felt as if he swallowed glass. He knew now that this was way more than just allergies, but skipping school was out of the question because he had a history test today.

 

He got out of bed, shivering as he rummaged through his closet for some warm clothes to slip on. He contemplated calling Hunk to pick him up but ultimately decided against it. He could make it through the day- he just needed to fill up on medicine. He would be fine.

 

To say he regretted not calling someone to pick him up would be an understatement because today was one of those days that exhibited winter conditions instead of spring. It was drizzling- not enough to warrant an umbrella but enough to be cold and uncomfortable. And the freezing gusty wind wasn’t helping. By the time he reached the school, his teeth were chattering so hard he felt that the world could hear. He decided to bypass hanging beside Keith’s car in favor of going to the warm school library. He had roughly twenty minutes before class, and he figured he would get some studying for the history test in before going to his first class.

 

Once in the library, he flopped down at a table in the back corner and rested his cheek against the cool tabletop while wrapping his arms around his shivering body in an attempt to warm up. He closed his eyes, mentally telling himself that he was just going to rest for a few minutes.

 

*****

 

“-ance? Lance!”

 

Lance stirred, slowly lifting his head up at the hushed, frantic voice at his side.

 

“Jesus, Lance! We’ve been looking for you for over an hour!” Keith whispered loudly before pulling out his phone.

 

Lance opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a harsh coughing fit that had him doubling over. He felt Keith’s hand press against his back.

 

“I found him, but he’s not looking too hot,” Keith said into the phone.

 

Lance sat up, gasping for breath just as Keith’s hand pressed against his forehead.

 

“Fuck, Shiro. He’s really burning up,” Keith said, balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pressed his other hand against Lance’s overly warm neck. “Can you come here? We are in the back of the library.”

 

Lance watched as Keith hung up the phone shortly after. He wanted Keith’s blessedly cool hands back against his heated skin but he did not have the energy to verbalize so.

 

“How are you feeling?” Keith questioned, and it took Lance a few moments to comprehend the words. He briefly thought that that should concern him, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to care.

 

“Not so great,” he whispered, clutching at his throat.

 

“I bet,” Keith replied gently as he took in Lance’s weak, trembling form. “Why did you even come in today?”

 

“Test,” Lance croaked out before turning to cough harshly into the crook of his arm.

 

“Keith!”

 

Lance and Keith both turned at the sound of Shiro’s voice. He, Pidge, and Hunk came racing towards them despite the glaring looks from the school librarian.

 

Keith stepped aside as soon as the three reached them to allow Shiro to crouch in front of Lance.

 

“Hey, bud,” Shiro said gently, and Lance could feel himself unraveling. Tears began to prick at his eyes as he glanced around at his friends all watching him in concern.

 

“Hey,” he whispered back after a few moments, wiping away at the tears streaming down his face. “I don’t feel so great.” Just as the words left his lips, he felt himself being pulled up into a hug by Hunk, and he crumpled into his friend’s arms.

 

“We’ve got you, Lance,” Hunk said before releasing him for Pidge’s inspection.

 

Lance was gently pushed back down into the chair by Pidge as she started feeling his forehead. She slid her small hands down his neck before resting against his chest. “Probably just a bad cold,” she announced. “It could get worse, though, if it’s not treated. You need fluids and rest, Lance.”

 

Lance nodded before struggling to his feet. A wave of dizziness washed over him unexpectedly and he felt himself tilting towards the floor before strong hands grabbed his shoulders to keep him upright.

 

“Woah, Lance! Easy,” Shiro said as he steadied Lance.

 

Lance shot Shiro a weak smile before shouldering his backpack. He shifted his gaze towards Keith. “Can you tell our history teacher that I’m really sorry but I’m too sick to take the test today?”

 

“No,” Keith shot back flatly, earning questioning glances from everyone. He kept his eyes locked on Lance’s. “I’m taking you home and watching you until your parents get home, Lance. I don’t trust you to not pass out in a ditch or something on the way home.”

 

“I-”

 

“Don’t argue with me.” Keith interrupted before turning his attention to Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge. “I’ve got him, you guys. Just tell our history teacher why we are missing the test.” He held an authoritative tone that had his three friends nodding in agreement.

 

“Text us updates, Keith,” Shiro all but ordered, and Keith gave a determined nod before wrapping his arm around Lance’s waist.

 

“I can walk,” Lance grumbled as he swayed on his feet.

 

“Yea, likely story,” Keith spit back as he led the taller boy out of the library towards the parking lot.

 

The wind and rain hadn’t let up, and Lance’s faint shivering grew in intensity as the two exited the school. Keith shot worried side glances at Lance as he walked them to his car as quickly as Lance would allow.

 

Once they reached Keith’s car, Keith helped Lance into the passenger seat, and as soon as Lance got settled, he curled in on himself in an attempt to get warm. Keith bit down on his lower lip before shrugging out of his jacket and draping it over Lance’s trembling form. Lance tried to stop him, but he easily batted Lance’s hands away.

 

“You need it more than me right now, Lance,” Keith said, and Lance sighed in defeat as Keith tucked the jacket around him.

 

Lance pressed his head against the cool window as Keith got into the driver’s seat. He closed his eyes, feeling utterly sorry for himself as Keith pulled out of the student parking lot.

 

*****

 

“102.3 degrees. Geez, Lance. No wonder you feel like shit.” Keith glanced from the thermometer reading to Lance, who was lying under a mountain of blankets.

 

“I could have sworn it was only allergies,” Lance muttered through chattering teeth.

 

“You’re an idiot,” Keith muttered under his breath as he draped a damp, folded hand towel across Lance’s forehead.

 

Lance coughed in reply before letting out a loud groan. He watched Keith rapidly sending a text on his phone for a few moments before deciding to speak up. “You can leave, Keith. If you go now you can make it in time for the history test. All I’m going to do is sleep, and you don’t hafta be here for that.”

 

Keith sighed while adjusting the towel draped across Lance’s forehead. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.”

 

Lance wanted to be annoyed at that answer, but he couldn’t keep his lips from curling up into a small smile. “Thanks,” he muttered through a cough before being lulled to sleep by the warmth of the bed and the medicine pulsing through his body.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I've never written for VLD before, but I love it. 
> 
> I'm trying not to throw up because we may have a racist, sexist pig as the next president. 
> 
> So, I wrote myself a Sickfic to make me feel better. 
> 
> I don't feel better, but enjoy anyway!


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